Caritas Village in the News

Press Democrat, Downtown block in Santa Rosa slated for low-cost housing, homeless services2-16-18 | Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa is drawing up plans to transform nearly an entire city block with a new homeless service center, family shelter and nearly 140 low-cost apartments in partnership with nonprofit Burbank Housing. The ambitious project, just now being unveiled to the public, would replace existing facilities and several homes on a downtown city block bounded by Sixth and Seventh, A and Morgan streets, northwest of the Santa Rosa Plaza mall. The proposal, contemplated for several years though only now beginning to take shape on paper, has “had very positive feedback,” Catholic Charities Executive Director Len Marabella said . . . READ ARTICLE

Sonoma State Star, Annual homeless census shows fire impact on local communities2-27-18 | Due to many factors including unemployment, lack of affordable housing, poor physical or mental health and drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness appears to be on the rise in Sonoma County. According to the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, 35 percent of people homeless in Santa Rosa have some form of physical or medical disability. While these are not the only contributing factors, they do blend together in the lives of those who struggle with homelessness daily. Jennielynn Holmes, senior director of shelter and housing at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, said that contributing factors specific to Sonoma County are hard to pinpoint because “it’s always a conditional situation. It could be a combination of things, but it is usually a pretty traumatic event.” . . . READ ARTICLE

Press Democrat, Public meeting called on downtown Santa Rosa housing and homeless services proposal3-6-18 | Santa Rosa has scheduled a public meeting to air plans and invite comment on a large-scale proposal for new housing and expanded homeless services on most of a downtown block between Highway 101 and the Plaza shopping mall. The March 21 meeting will include a description of the project and an opportunity for the public to ask questions of representatives for Catholic Charities and Burbank Housing, the two nonprofits behind the ambitious plan. The intention, in part, is to identify potential objections in advance of a formal permit application, by giving “neighbors a chance to digest what their proposal is,” city planner Kristinae Toomians said . . . READ ARTICLE

San Francisco Chronicle, North Bay fires fuel a population explosion in homeless camps3-12-18 | Andreas Gunn reckons he had a pretty sweet life before Oct. 8. The 22-year-old was working a job he liked swabbing grease out of kitchens, lived with his uncle in the Santa Rosa subdivision of Coffey Park and was saving money for a car. Then came the Tubbs Fire, which took his uncle’s house and more than 4,600 others. Gunn’s job disappeared in days as his uncle, who was also his employer, moved out of town. Today, Gunn lives in the broken-down RV he blew all $1,400 of his savings on after the fire so he could have a roof. He parks it on the south edge of town in a featureless spread of business parks, alongside 30 or so other RVs mostly belonging to fire survivors. Down the road are tent camps that held about 60 people before the disaster but now harbor 250 . . . READ ARTICLE

Press Democrat, Neighbors cite concerns about Santa Rosa homeless shelter project3-21-18 | Neighbors who would be directly affected by redevelopment of a downtown Santa Rosa city block eyed for construction of low-income housing and new homeless services outlined a litany of misgivings about the ambitious project Wednesday night, starting with its sheer size. Weighing in publicly for the first time, and often divided in their opinions, several residents of the St. Rose and West End neighborhoods told a city planner that the 137 new apartment units and 52-family shelter envisioned for the site could overwhelm the area with traffic and unmet parking needs, and, they fear, unwanted loitering . . . READ ARTICLE